Agam Regency Government Seeks Additional Relocation Land for Disaster-Affected Residents

Bukittinggi, (ANTARA) - The Agam Regency Government in West Sumatra is seeking to add relocation land to house residents affected by disasters in the region. “The main focus at the moment includes ensuring decent housing for people whose homes were severely damaged or located in hazardous zones,” said Agam Regent Benni Warlis in Bukittinggi on Wednesday. He cited latest data showing total housing damage due to disasters reaching 2,427 units. The figure covers several damage categories: 421 houses swept away, 1,613 in hazard zones and requiring relocation, 249 severely damaged, 57 moderately damaged, and 87 lightly damaged. He said the government is preparing two relocation schemes: independent relocation and integrated collective relocation requiring 10 hectares of new land. In this area, not only houses will be built, but also social facilities, public facilities, local roads, drainage systems, waste management, and access to clean water. A total of 699 housing units are targeted to be built under the collective scheme. At present, the availability of ready-to-use land reaches seven hectares. We are seeking additional land through utilising land formerly used as Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) by PT Pelalu Raya amounting to eight hectares, he said. A request to utilise that land has been reported to the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (Kementerian ATR/BPN). He stressed that the authorities are also continuing to search for alternative land elsewhere in Agam. “If by the end of June free land solutions are not yet sufficient, the last step to be taken will be to procure land or purchase land using the regional budget to ensure all affected residents have a safe place to live,” he said. Head of the Agam Housing and Settlement Office (Perkim) Rinaldi said the 10-hectare area has an estimated capacity of about 70 houses per hectare. The existing land is spread across three sites. First at Dama Gadang, Tanjung Raya District, covering 5 hectares with a planned site plan to accommodate 325 units, he said. The second site is in Gumalang, Nagari Koto Gadang, covering about 1.1 hectares with capacity for around 50 units. The third, Lapangan SD 05 Kayu Pasak, covering 1 hectare with capacity for 60 units. For the independent relocation scheme, the Regency Government notes 1,089 homes are currently being processed. Under this scheme, residents will build new homes on land they own in a safe area with a stimulus fund of Rp 60 million per unit. Unlike the independent relocation, the collective relocation budget is calculated based on the integrated area, not per building unit. “The regional government is fully committed and is mobilising every effort to ensure residents who have lost their homes can soon rebuild their lives in new, safer housing,” he said.